The SitePoint Forums have moved.

You can now find them here.
This forum is now closed to new posts, but you can browse existing content.
You can find out more information about the move and how to open a new account (if necessary) here.
If you get stuck you can get support by emailing forums@sitepoint.com

If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

There are good answers for "How to make money with an ecommerce site." or "How to make money with a content site." But something that applies to one site might not apply to the other.

One thing to keep in mind is that commerce drives revenue. Internet advertising has had it's ups and downs but ecommerce keeps growing strong. So if you can get a piece of the ecommerce pie you can definitely make some good money. The ways to do this would be to build a content site that is attractive to ecommerce advertisers, build an affiliate site that you can out-market the parent site with, or to build a real ecommerce site.

The Internet is still relatively young and in 20 years the people who get in the business now will be pretty well off. Its not to late to get in the game.

Re 10 small sites are better than one big one, but you still must have the one big one.

It has a few in-built meanings.

1/ Harder for your oppostion to take you out with 1 or two shots .. their target is not so clear. Safety in numbers theory.

2/ If one pond dries up its only 10% of your profits .. therefore should not be fatal.

3/ Somtimes you can "fly under the radar" of your oppostion.

4/ However, still aim big on one site. Make yourself a big fish in one pond. Brings volume to the business .. which should mean better buying power over the whole group. Also brings the apperance of strength in a given pond.

When planning a site, think about whether or not it could be a successful franchise model.

I'm currently working on a site that I wanted to make for my local area, but rather than just write it for that purpose, I'm making it a franchise system and will be running my area as if I were a franchisee. I can then sell franchise rights to other people who will run other areas. This will a) provide a direct revenue stream and b) make the site bigger and help with visibility.

I agree totally about diversifying your income streams... even if it's in the same industry. I'm seeing so many friends and family members that are 1-income households getting laid off from their jobs of 10, 20 or more years. With the job market like it is they can't find work for what they were making, but everyone in this area is downsizing.

It's a bad situation. Fortunately for us, my wife has a good job and I have several very different businesses. When one is slow, others may be doing well. It really helps when all your eggs aren't in one basket.

Jeremy, it means that it's not enough with a good idea - you also need a good implemenation of it.

Just my 2 cents:

As a (fairly obvious) example, think of how crippled friends reunited and their ilk would be if they only allowed members to view the list of people who have registered. As it is, you can see exactly who's registered as a guest, but you can't contact them until you're a member. The idea is exactly tre same either way, but the implementation makes a big difference to the success of the site.

i totally agree with #2. if you're going into business on the web, i think it's much better to sell a service than a product. there's money to be made in both but it's much easier to succeed with a service. look at the most successful internet companies. ebay, yahoo and google. they don't sell any "tangible" products. then look at amazon.com. they have low margins on products and this affects their profitability.

now for #7, i'm not sure i quite agree with that. i can see how it can work out and your idea of "not putting all your eggs in one basket" is a valid one but doesn't making 10 successful sites sound difficult? a large site has so many things it can take advantage of.

first is the amount of traffic. that can be taken advantage of in so many ways. you have a large user base to start a forum or you can sell more advertising. that's why google adwords is so successful. because they have so much traffic and such a large inventory.

catering to a niche can be great, too. a lot of times, there are much higher margins because you know your niche and they know you. there isn't as much competition. but starting 10 successful small sites? sounds pretty difficult to me. i'd take the one (well managed) huge site over the chance of running 10 smaller successful sites anyday.

iPodbank - Forum for iPod, music, tv and movie enthusiasts.Golf Rewind - If you enjoy the game of golf, check out my forum.

I wonder...is it for real???

I just read everybody's posts, most of you people seem honest but... Is it for real?

I mean... can anybody tell me if one can really make some money online? During the past 6 or so months I've been home trying to make it happen and it seems overwhelmingly difficult sometimes. During this time I've bought many eBooks, I have built three websites, I've written my own eBook, I've tried selling both tangible and intangible but nothing seems to have worked. Frustration is knocking hard in my head!

Last week only, I spent $400 in pay-per-click from google and the few sales I made, buyers requested a refund! I know the eBook is well written as it is the result of countless hours of study of the online world. I've compared it to the other many eBooks I've bought and I know it's better. Are people out there just to take you? It's rough...

and talk about my tangible product sites...my online jewelry sales are aweful although I have a great selection and a great price as I am in Colombia and emeralds, gold and labor here is so cheap. Traffic to this site is only brought by my weak efforts on google adwords and it is expensive!